Tap holder



8- 1942- c. A; SUNDSTRAND 2,292,850

TAP HOLDER Filed April 28, 1941 Patented Aug. 11, 1942 Carl A. Sundstrand, Rockford, I ll., assignor to Forest City Bit & Tool 00., Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 28, 1941,. serialiNo. 390,741

4' Claims. (Cl. 10 1 l7) This invention" relates to tap holders, and has for an important object the provision of a generally improved tap holder adapted to rest' against the work to align the tap with an opening in the work, the holder being formed of a support member and a tap wrench which interfit to provide an aligning bearing. surface therebetween to prevent angular movement of the wrench tending to break the tap, to permit of greater facility'in bringing the parts into and out of working position, and to'facilitate inspection of the progress of the tapping operation.

Another object of the invention is the provision in a tap holder of a supporting member for spacing the tap-wrench from the work and having openings which function for continuous inspection ofthe tapping operation as this operation proceeds, which supporting member and openings also function to form a socket wrench for tightening and loosening the tap in the tap wrench.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tap holder v embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section therethrough showing the holder in position against a work piece and a tap positioned therein;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the tap is tightened and loosened in the tap wrench, and:

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

The invention contemplates a construction comprising a' supporting member indicated generally by the numeral 6 and a tap wrench I supported therein for rotation, the two being separate elements and arranged so that the tap wrench can be freely lifted out of the supporting member, as will be apparent from Fig. 2. The support member is in the general form of a tube having a lower end portion conveniently in the form of a ring as shown at 8. The end surface of the support is accurately ground or otherwise finished plane at right angles to the ion gitudinal axis of the tube, as shown at 9,. and is adapted to seat against the flat surface of a work piece It having a drilled hole as shown at l2 to which internal threads are to be applied by means of a tap, such as that indicated at l3. It will be understood that the shape of the lower end 9* may suitably be such as to seat against the work piece to maintain alignment of the support with the holder, and may have specific shapes for this purpose. The end 8 forms part of a lower web portion which merges intoa sleeve portion l4, the web portion serving to space the sleeve portion from the work a distance sufiicient for the sleeve portion to receive the tap Wrench in starting the tap, as will pres- '1 tion, particularly when pressure is entl'ybe described. This web portion has a plureality of: openings as indicated at l6, l1, I8 and [9, which openings permit light to pass through thesupport member, and which permit the operator to view the progress of the tap into the work; as will be apparent from Fig. 2.

The sleeve i4 is preferably concentrically arrangedwith respect to the lower end 8 and has a cylindrical inner surface 2| for rotational and longitudinal movement of a tap wrench therein within relatively close limits, the axis of said opening being at right angles to the plane of the end 9.

The tap wrench I in thisinstance includes a central bar 22' provided with laterally disposed handle members 23 and 24 adjacent its upper end. At its lower end the bar is beveled inwardly as shown at 25 and 26 and is transversely slotted for the reception of jaws 21 and 28' of a chuck, the jaws being supported in the bar in theusual fashion of such tools and being arranged to grip the end of the tap I3 when suitably tightened thereagainst. The bar is externally threaded as shown at 29 for the reception thereon of an internally threaded chuck sleeve 3| having a tapered inner face 32 adjacent its lower end adapted to abut against the outer surfaces of the jaws 21 and 28 for the purpose of crowding these jaws in against the shank of the tap when the sleeve is screwed onto the bar in one direction or to release the tap when screwed in the opposite direction. The sleeve 3| has fiat surfaces 33 on opposite sides thereof adjacent the lower? end of the sleeve which function, as will presently be described, to receive a wrench to facilitate rotation of' the sleeve and tighten or loosen the tap in the tap wrench. The outer surface of the sleeve 31 is cylindrical and of a dimension to be received snugly within the sleeve M of the support member so that the tap wrench is accurately guided in its rotation and in its longitudinal movement by contact between the sleeve portions l4 and 3|. The sleeve is of such diameter that the entire wrench and tap' can be inserted through the upper end of the support member after the latter is center over the opening I2 and the end of the tap is thus brought into engagement with the opening. {Ihese sleeve portions, as will be seen particularl'y from Fig. 2, are of substantial length with respect to the overall length of the holder so as to prevent any substantial degree of tilting movement between the support member and the tap wrench and to guide the wrench during its rotaapplied thereto through the handles 23 and 24. A shoul der is formed on the outer surface of the support member, which shoulder serves as agripping means for the operator to permit the operator to grip the support and urge it against the support member and the walls defining the 7 side edges of at least one of said openings (and preferably more) are parallelly spaced a distance slightly in excess of the distance between the flat surfaces 33 on the end of the sleeve 3|. Likewise the length of the openings is equal to or greater than the diameter of the sleeve 3| so that the end of the tap wrench can be inserted into one of said openings with the surfaces 33 bearing against the side edges 35 and 36,for example, of the opening I6 as shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen that under these circumstances relative rotation of the support member with respect to the tap wrench will cause the sleeve 3I to be rotated with respect to the central bar 22 so as to tighten the cooperating threads or loosen the same so as to release or tighten the tap in the tap wrench. In other words, in this fashion the support member serves as a wrench for the tap wrench. Thus the openings I6 to I9 serve a dual function, that of permitting the operator to observe the progress of the work, and that of serving as a wrench socket for manipulation of the tap wrench. It will be seen that this is of considerable importance in that while conventional tap Wrenches are provided with a knurled surface on the chuck sleeve to be grasped by the operator in tightening or loosening the chuck, such an arrangement cannot be employed with the embodiment of applicants construction herein shown because of the necessity for providing the contact surfaces between the sleeves I4 and 3|. By arranging the chuck and the openings in the manner described, a self-contained tap holder is produced.

It will be seen that with this construction the lower end 8 of the support member is seated against the work, and the tap wrench holding the tap is inserted into the support member through the sleeve I4 with the end of the tap in the opening I2. By grasping the shoulder 34 and thus holding the support member firmly against the work, the operator can then exert a maximum pressure upon the handles of the tap wrench without the danger of having the wrench wobble during the turning operations as happens withunguided tools, due to the necessity of the operator changing the position of the wrench in the hand during the turning operations. This avoids the danger of breaking the tap in the opening and likewise facilitates the proper starting of the tap in the bore. With conventional tap wrenches it is common practice for skilled workmen to repeatedly check the position of the tap by applying a square to the work alongside the tap, checking on various sides of the tap to be sure it is starting straight. The

present device speeds the work in that the tap wrench is maintained in alignment and the necessity for this checking is eliminated. The sleeves I4 and 3| are relatively long with respect to the overall length of the tool so that a steady guiding cooperation is produced. Because of the openings in the web portion, the operator can continuously watch the progress of the tap as it moves down into the bore. It will also be observed that the guiding action is produced between the sleeve and the tap wrench as distinguished from the tap which permits of accurate shaping of the parts and permits of the use of a wide variety of taps of different shapes and sizes with a single tap wrench.

The above description and the accompanying drawing are believed to convey a complete description of the preferred manner of practicing the invention, and are given by way of illustration.

Y I claim:

1. The combination in a tap holder of a support member having a lower end finished to seat upon the work around an opening to be tapped, an aligning sleeve of substantially greater length than diameter, and an intermediate web portion for spacing said sleeve from the work, and a tap wrench having a bearing surface of substantial length snugly received in said sleeve for rotary and lengthwise movement therein to align said wrench, spaced handles for rotation of said wrench, and chuck means at one end thereof for securing any of a number of taps of different sizes therein for application to said opening to be tapped.

2. The combination in a tap holder of a tubular support member having a lower end finished to seat against the work and encircle an opening to be tapped, an aligning sleeve of substantially greater length than diameter coaxially disposed with respect to said lower end, and an intermediate web portion for spacing said sleeve from the work, said support member having an annular shoulder projecting from the outer surface thereof to provide a gripping means for the operator, and a tap wrench comprising a central bar having a handle at one end, a chuck including a chuck sleeve at the opposite end of said bar threaded thereon to receive and secure a tap therein, the chuck sleeve being of substantially the length of said aligning sleeve and being snugly received therein to guide the tap holder in lengthwise movement to maintain the wrench in axial alignment with said opening in the work in inserting the tap in said opening.

3. The combination in a tap holder of a support member having a lower end finished to seat against the work and around an opening to be tapped, a sleeve and an intermediate web portion for spacing said sleeve from the work, a tap Wrench comprising a central bar and a chuck sleeve receivable through said sleeve to hold a tap, said chucksleeve having flattened sides for turning the same to tighten the chuck, said web having a plurality of slots for viewing the work, at least one of said slots having a width to receive therebetween the flattened sides of said chuck to rotate the same.

4. The combination in a tap holder of a tubular support member having a lower end finished to seat against the work and encircle an opening to be tapped, an aligning sleeve of substantially greater length than diameter coaxially disposed with respect to said lower end, and an intermediate web portion for spacing said sleeve from the work, and a tap wrench comprising a central bar having a handle at one end, a chuck including a chuck sleeve at the opposite end of said bar threaded thereon to receive and secure a tap therein, the chuck sleeve being of substantially the length of said aligning sleeve and being snugly-received therein to guide the tap holder in lengthwise movement to maintain the wrench in axial alignment with said opening in the work in inserting the tap in said opening.

a CARL A. SUNDSTRAND. 

